Why I love living in Texas

ICE DAYS! While I'll admit, it is pretty cold right now (19 deg) and the roads are completely covered in ice this morning, had these conditions occurred in any state north of here (or even in other cities -- I don't recall Tech ever canceling classes because of a little ice on the roads), everyone would go about their days as usual. But not here! The local news keeps going on about the "HUNDREDS of cancellations today!", which I am most certainly not complaining about. Oh, and I should add that we are expected to hit a high of 42 deg here. For those of you that don't know, I was born in Minnesota and lived there until I was 9. Although my skin adapted quickly to the Texas heat and I could not take the cold there for an entire winter if I was paid to, I thought I'd share an email my mom sent me recently.

Cold Weather Behavior

• 60 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. Minnesotans plant gardens.
• 50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People are sunbathing in Duluth.
• 40 above zero: Import cars won't start. Minnesotans drive with the sunroof open.
• 32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Bemidji gets thicker.
• 20 above zero: New Mexicans don long johns, parkas and wool hats & mittens. Minnesotans throw on a flannel shirt.
• 15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn on the heat. People in Minnesota have one last cookout before it gets cold.
• Zero: People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close the windows.
• 10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico . Minnesotans dig their winter coats out of storage.
• 25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. Girl Scouts in Minnesota still selling cookies door to door.
• 40 below zero: Washington , D.C. finally runs out of hot air. People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.
• 100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because the Mini-Van won't start.
• 460 below zero: ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in Minnesota can be heard to say, "Cold 'nuff fer ya?"
• 500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools open 2 hours late.

If 20 deg above zero is all it takes for us to close school - I'll take it! The news keeps showing all the overpasses with cars stuck on them. Some facing the right way, some not so much - while I certainly don't wish an accident on anyone, and am praying for my husband to have a safe drive this morning - I can't help but think there have to be a lot of idiot drivers out there for the news to have THIS many shots of people off the road. I also think that if we are going to live in an area where the roads can be covered with ice, they should have more than a little sand to cover it up. On the other hand though - it does make for some comical videos of the cars moving about 20 mph on the highway, and I can't help but think that everyone north of us would be falling out of their chairs laughing when they heard our newscasters say "watch out out there, we are still WELL, WELL below freezing at 22 deg". REALLY?

Happy ice day!